Presidential Pronouncement Premature

A commentary about the Beer Summit by http://www.verticalthought.com/ !


Presidential Pronouncement Premature

A commentary by Frank Dunkle

On July 16 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates was arrested at his own home in an incident that quickly became world famous. Yet, what U.S. President Barack Obama said about the arrest—and what he attempted to un-say—have become an even bigger spectacle.
The allegations
Police responded to an emergency call from a neighbor who heard that someone was forcing open a door at Professor Gates' house. There is more than one version of what exactly happened next, but it seems that the African-American professor became rather irate at being asked for identification by a European-American police officer. When Dr. Gates was arrested for disorderly conduct, questions quickly arose about racial profiling and racism in general.
The press conference
At a press conference a few days later, a reporter asked President Obama about the incident and related issues. The president's answer included the comment that the police had "acted stupidly." His offhand comment provoked a storm of protest, including a demand for an apology from the union representing Sergeant James Crowley, the principal police officer involved.
Two days after the press conference, Mr. Obama went to reporters to retract his statement. "I could have calibrated those words differently," he said. While the president did not quite apologize, he certainly took a long step back from his first position.
A vertical thinking lesson
Much of the ongoing discussion about this incident is focusing on alleged racism and police brutality. Neither of those represents vertical thinking. But there is another lesson here—one perhaps so obvious that we could take it for granted, but let's not do so.
The lesson that President Obama will almost certainly learn from this—and one that all of us should learn—is this: Find out all the facts about a situation before you make a decision, and before you criticize anyone involved. In biblical times, King Solomon of Israel was inspired to say it like this: "He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him" (Proverbs 18:13).
Judging from his backtracking, the president appeared to feel a little foolish when he learned that there was more to the story of Professor Gates' arrest than he first thought. Of course, this doesn't necessarily mean that the police made no mistakes in the case, but it was certainly a mistake to jump to conclusions. That he acknowledged this and is working to make things right is to the president's credit.
Have you ever?
Have you ever had one friend tell you something terrible about another person that you know? It's natural to believe your friend and to say things about the supposed wrongdoer or even to take action against him or her. However, this is when a vertical thinker realizes that he or she has only heard one side of the story. King Solomon wrote about this, too, saying: "The first one to plead his cause seems right, until his neighbor comes and examines him" (Proverbs 18:17).
What's the value of learning this life lesson? Read "Priceless…" and I think you'll see.
We would all do well to heed the words of the ancient king—and to learn from the example of this modern president. Mr. Obama's "Beer Summit" last night with both Professor Gates and Sergeant Crowley to talk things out seems to have been a good step in defusing the situation. Hopefully they'll all give more effort to listening than to judging—and hopefully so will all of us. VT



Comments or Questions
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"Are Cops Racist?"

A very interesting book recommended by Thomas Sowell.

His review is below.

If you have heard that the police are engaging in racial profiling, take a look at the evidence cited by those promoting that conclusion — and discover how flimsy and misleading that evidence is. When you finish reading "Are Cops Racist?" you may have your own question: Are the people who keep making that charge dishonest?

You can also get the book from your library here

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/50333645&referer=brief_results

Read more here http://townhall.com/columnists/ThomasSowell/2003/12/09/christmas_books

David Axelrod’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

A very interesting article from Steve Sailer of www.vdare.com. Check out his book at the bottom of the article.

David Axelrod’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
[Steve Sailer]
I’ve got to bet that David Axelrod’s blood pressure is high at the moment, what with his prize pupil slipping the leash at yesterday’s news conference and letting everybody know what’s really on his mind. And now, Obama’s getting a second day of headlines over GatesGate.
From ABC News:
President Obama today stood by his comments that the Cambridge, Mass., police department acted “stupidly” in its arrest of Henry Louis Gates, telling ABC News that the Harvard University professor should not have been arrested.
President says he doesn’t regret his criticism of Cambridge police department.
“I have to say I am surprised by the controversy surrounding my statement, because I think it was a pretty straightforward commentary that you probably don’t need to handcuff a guy, a middle-aged man who uses a cane, who’s in his own home,” Obama said.

In an exclusive interview with ABC’s Terry Moran to air on “Nightline” tonight, Obama said it doesn’t make sense to him that the situation escalated to the point that Gates was arrested.
“I think that I have extraordinary respect for the difficulties of the job that police officers do,” the president told Moran. “And my suspicion is that words were exchanged between the police officer and Mr. Gates and that everybody should have just settled down and cooler heads should have prevailed. That’s my suspicion.”

At this point, Axelrod must have been feeling a bit better about Obama getting back on script.
The president said he understands the sergeant who arrested Gates is an “outstanding police officer.”
Good, thinks the President’s handler, Now just wrap it up, get back to health care, and you can go smoke a whole pack of Lucky Strikes.
But he added that with all that’s going on in the country with health care and the economy and the wars abroad, “it doesn’t make sense to arrest a guy in his own home if he’s not causing a serious disturbance.”

Oh, noooooooo! What with all that’s going on in the country with health care and the economy and the wars abroad, what doesn’t make any sense is for my client, the President of the United States of America, to get publicly obsessed over a local police incident!
Cambridge Police Department Commissioner Robert C. Haas said in a press conference late Thursday that his department was “deeply pained” by the president’s comments yesterday.
Watch “Nightline” Tonight at 11:35 p.m. ET for Terry Moran’s full interview with President Obama

By the way, if you want to understand why Obama slips loose from Axelrod’s master plan and does these kind of self-destructive things every now and then, please buy my reader’s guide to the President’s memoir, America’s Half-Blood Prince: Barack Obama’s “Story of Race and Inheritance.”